


beyoncé on my stereo (resentment on repeat)

by Anonymous



Series: pov rhaenys targaryen works that are "meh" + may never be finished [2]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Aegon and Rhaenys Targaryen Live, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Jousting, Meet the Starks, Not Beta Read, POV Rhaenys Targaryen, Repost of deleted work which I still don't like but only posting bc im anon, Rhaenys and Aegon grow up as well adjusted adults, TW : mention of rape and murder, TW : violence against women mentioned, Tournaments, Will update if i continue, Winterfell, title from a cardi b song
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:28:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24128935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Jon takes Egg and Ray up North to Winterfell to meet the family.It's awkward as hell for Ray, who feels just the tiniest, teeniest bit of bitterness. Or maybe it's just her crappy boots which have made her like this.ABANDONED AND DISCONTINUED
Relationships: Jon Snow & Aegon VI Targaryen & Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia)
Series: pov rhaenys targaryen works that are "meh" + may never be finished [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741027
Kudos: 11
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I didn't like this one at all but am reposting this bc fuck it I'm anonymous. I probably won't update again :)

Ray and Egg were ~~reunited~~ acquainted with their half-brother after he came to the front door of their flat with an old photo album and unreserved earnestness.

She was not sure how Egg and her went from being wary of Jon, to having him move in with them, and then finally taking him along to the Watergardens for the summer. 

Ray’s cousins – her sisters, really – were all smitten with the cute Northerner and his boyish grins. Tristane now had not only Egg, but Jon as well to practice boxing with, which the three boys did relentlessly together. Quentyn was also thrilled with Jon, a fellow Overwatch enthusiast, and fought hard for his rights over the new guest too.

Only Ray’s Uncle Obi and Uncle Doran weren’t very enthusiastic about John, but still polite to him. They even let Jon have the first sip of their family’s sour wine batch for that year on Easter as they dined amongst lemon trees.

When Ray and Egg asked if Jon wanted to come with them to Dorne for the next holiday season, he apologised and said that he had work.

X

Jon had taken Ray and Egg to the Starks’ ancient fortress for his family’s Springtime Festival by train. Winterfell, as Ray saw behind frosted glass, was huge amongst the landscape, with large towers and imposing battlements.

It _towered_ over the small town with cosy looking cottages around it, and with the smoking chimneys and vintage trucks parked outside the castle, the whole scene looked like it was something straight out of postcard.

Egg looked awed and Jon looked happy as he looked fondly at the beautiful fortress whose lit windows twinkled in the night sky. Jon looked at Winterfell the same way Ray felt about Dragonstone, before she had to sell it at eighteen. ~~~~

It was very late when the three got off the train, and Ray felt gusts of wind breach through the layers of frumpy clothing she wore. She started to feel wet, cold water seep into her boots and soak her socks and poor frozen feet.

_What kind of Spring was this?_

Irritated with her crappy boots, Ray huddled closer to Egg as they trekked behind Jon through the town to the open gates of the castle from Winterfell Station.

Jon turned back to grin at his siblings.

“It’s not even cold anymore!”

“Fuck you.”

Ray tried not to gape in awe as they passed the imposing gatehouse before getting to a courtyard where even more trucks were parked and Ray could sniff out the distinct scent of horses and hay in the dark.

The three eventually reached the backdoor, which Jon banged on until a heavyset man heaved it open and laughed when he saw who had knocked this late.

“Roddy, how are you?” Jon laughed back as the man patted his back and led them inside.

There were only a few dim lights left open inside, she noticed, and so she and Egg followed Jon into the house and through a narrow stone passage.

X

Before meeting his aunt and uncle, Jon gave Egg and Ray a tour around Winterfell. They were awed by the more ancient parts of the fortress, such as the First Keep; and were pleasantly surprised by the inner castle, which was apparently insulated from the raging cold outside. They were also fascinated by the Great Hall and its Lord’s Table, which had been set up for the upcoming festival and was laden with silver plates and goblets which they took a lot of Instagrammable photos of.

Jon then took them to the Godswood which had brilliant red leaves despite the snow, and then to the gardens, where they met one of Jon’s younger cousins and her friend.

Sansa and Jeyne excitedly took Egg and Ray to see the winter roses, which were small, powder blue and blooming despite it being winter. They were pretty, but Ray privately thought they would fare poorly against a Dornish variety, which had velvety petals of the deepest red and emitted a heady fragrance.

Still, Ray took out her phone and took some pictures of them anyway, which seemed to make Sansa very happy. She was struck by the young girl’s abnormal beauty. Sansa’s hair was like those of the godswood’s leaves, and Ray wondered if she resembled the girl her father left her mother for.

“You don’t look like your brother,” said Jeyne to her later while Ray was watching Sansa Stark intensely. The red head was giggling with Jon while watching Egg chase Lady around the snow.

Ray gave a small smile at Jeyne’s observation: she and Egg were like two sides of the same coin. Rhaenys was small and frail, with their father’s violet eyes and her mother’s dark hair. Egg was tall and strapping, with his mother’s warm eyes but their father's fairness.

“Is it true girls with purple eyes don’t get their period but can still get pregnant?” Jeyne asked excitedly after a moment.

“Huh?”

“Someone at school told me!”

After declining the girls’ invitations to join them in the hotpools, Ray joined Jon and Egg to see the ancient crypts, where members of the Stark household could still be laid to rest. Ray really didn’t feel anything, apart from a desire to leave this place as quickly as possible. Egg however had brought in a few winter roses to place at Lyanna’s crypt and spent a few moments paying his respects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I didn't like this one at all but am reposting this bc fuck it I'm anonymous. I probably won't update again :)


	2. Chapter 2

Egg and Jon had left Ray to prepare for the first round of the tourney, which was a series of jousting matches. Egg learnt how to ride and joust as a teenager on the warm fields of their uncle’s estate, but Ray was nervous about him jumping on a horse which barely knew him and riding on slippery and muddy land. It was _so_ typical of her brother to go and risk his life for shits and giggles.

Make shift stands full of people had been erected around a small muddy field. Banners of old and long gone houses from the Dragon Age were flying everywhere, but the most recurring one was obviously that of a white wolf on a grey field.

Ray was sitting with Jon’s sombre uncle, after returning his firm handshake and squarely meeting his gaze. _Ned_ and his family, being the Starks of Winterfell and (titular) Wardens of the North, were seated with their guests of honour on the fanciest stand, which was slightly less muddy than the other ones and even had some (now wet) drapes around it too.

The sun was out, but Ray still felt pretty cold and miserable under her layers. Her boots had let water from the muddy field she had just walked through seep into her socks and her feet were soaked with cold water. Ray was already daydreaming about returning South and not having to wear damp socks.

On Ray's left side sat the most corpulent man Ray had ever seen. He was older than her uncle Doran, occupied two seats and had sharp eyes which regarded her with interest.

“We don’t see many Dornishmen come up here,” said Wyman, “but I live on the coast, and so see all types at White Harbour. But Valyrians…we never really see them around at all now.” 

This was true. There were more Valyrians in Essos; but the telly and movies at Westeros seemed to be full of violet eyed stars with platinum blonde hair. As for Dornish people...the south just had a lot more jobs than the north; but many locals here were miners for an evil minerals company (like the one which seized Dragonstone from Ray). 

Ray nodded absent mindedly at whatever her neighbour was saying, before salvation came in the form of a young girl pushing her way through the stand and dropping dramatically onto the seat next to Ned.

“I can ride better than Theon but can’t be in this tourney – “

“You’re too young to enter –“ Ned started before a husky jumped up the stand and onto Ned’s lap, splashing him and Ray with mud.

“Nymeria!” cried the girl, who Ray now assumed to be wild Arya, Jon’s favourite “sister”. Arya laughed as Nymeria got off Ned’s lap and rested her soft head on Ray’s knee. Ray _should_ have been annoyed because now she was really wet and smelling like wet dog, but Ray was a little touched by this friendly beast and her name.

Ned was apologetic, but Ray smiled and shook Arya’s hand while the girl asked her all about Ray’s cousin Obara, who was currently Westeros’ fencing champion in the women’s division.

“She spoke here at our school once, and your cousin is so cool! I made Dad take me to White Harbour to see the championship when it was there four months back and...”

Arya looked a lot like Ned and Jon, having both of their long, pale faces; but where the men had sombre grey eyes, Arya’s ones were full of excitement.

“And your great-great-great-great times a million grandma is Nymeria, who was really cool and my tutor said it would be a great name for my puppy.”

“Yeah, our family’s descended from Princess Nymeria and pretty lucky like your family in the sense that we’ve retained our titles and a few of our estates for so long. I’ve got a cousin named after our great-times a million grandma too – Obara’s sister actually. They’d both love to meet you, since they’re both athletes.”

Arya’s eyes widened. Ray had forgotten there was a tourney on. Ned was watching the tournament, where some guys on horses were being stupid and knocking each other out in the cold and falling onto the mud as the crowds roared. Wyman however was watching Arya and Ray carefully, as though he knew something that they didn’t, but then a man on a huge horse came to their stand and pointed his lance in Ray’s direction.

“What-“

The guy took off his helmet, but Ray was staring at the body of one of the biggest men she had ever seen. His hands alone would probably crush -

Ray snapped her eyes to his face, and saw a grinning man with typical Northern features.

“You need to give him a favour.” Ned coughed. Ray blinked, and then plastered a wide smile on her face, before taking off her scrunchie and hooking it onto the lance.

“What’s your name?”

“Smalljon.” The man grinned again while Arya burst into laughter, and even Ray had to snort at how ridiculous it was when he galloped away, no doubt to knock out anyone unfortunate enough to joust against him. Ray let out the breath she was holding, and didn’t realise her hands were shaking until Wyman wordlessly passed her his gloves.

Another helmeted horseman with a lance came riding onto the field, wearing grey and white, and the crowds became lively as he galloped around, but no one cheered harder than Arya.

“Come on Robb!”

“Okay Arya,” Ned started, “you can sit down now.”

“KNOCK HIM OUT ROBB!”

Ray privately thought that this Smalljon fellow was more likely to knock Robb out, but she kept her mouth shut until Arya’s brother was lying with his face in the mud before being helped onto his feet by his opponent.

Robb hobbled in his heavy armour to their stand and took off his dirty helmet to look at his father. Ned seemed pretty amused by Robb’s state rather than disappointed, and both ignored Arya’s ranting about how he “should have hooked” his lance faster or something like that. Ray saw that Robb was like Egg in build, and didn’t really resemble his dad at all, having both bright blue eyes and auburn hair. He was quite handsome, and probably a little younger than her judging by the shy grin on his face as he shook her hand.

Robb sat next to his dad as Ray saw Egg ride in, and was a little surprised to see that he had an orange surcoat to wear. Thankfully, he wasn’t obtuse enough to bring one with a red dragon.

Egg, bless him, was fast and managed to hit his opponent with his lance before they had even reacted. His opponent was so annoyed that he jumped off his horse, threw off his helmet and stomped out of the arena and back to the tents.

“Typical Theon,” Arya snorted.

Jon wore a grey surcoat with a white wolf and rode Robb’s horse when he brought down his opponent (wearing pink), but the impact caused him to nearly fall off his steed.

Ray did feel a little proud to see her little brother help his opponent up from the ground to and laugh with him, before Arya came running from their stand to jump onto him. Jon nearly fell again, but managed to hold onto Arya as he spun her around while she half-screamed and half-laughed at him to stop.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning:
> 
> Mentions of murder and rape

Ray was chewing on her cereal in the old dining hall at Ned’s table. She was alright with not sitting with Egg, who was at another table with Robb and his friends, all dressed in camo. Egg had become fast friends with Robb and Dom, and so they along with Theon were heading towards the nearby forest on a hunting trip to shoot some game, as they only had legal permission to do so a few times a year.

Jon was also coming down later with a uni friend of his that had come over yesterday, but rather than hunting, they were collecting some samples from the forest.

“Yeah, my uncle showed me how to cut up snakes –“

Rhaenys did recall Oberyn and Egg’s many trips to a reserve near Sunspear. Egg wasn’t as good at shooting targets as well as Sarella, but he was obsessed with preparing traps to catch animals or snakes, as though he were on _Man versus Wild_.

“Do Dornish people eat everything?” Theon spat with disgust as he stabbed at his bacon. Ray noticed that he wasn’t sitting next to Robb this morning, as Robb was sitting with Egg and it seemed like Theon’s remark just passed through everyone’s ears.

“Dom’s got some of his dad’s army knives. Anyway, if we’re lucky and catch some deer or something…”

Ray went back to reading the news on her phone next to Ned, who was absorbed with reading his own paper, and Bran, who was working on solving a Rubik’s cube in between biting at his toast.

She looked at the local _Northern_ news, glanced at some pictures from yesterday’s joust, and an ad for some boots from a Wintertown store she considered going to since her own were ruined now.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Robb approach her and put her phone down.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Rhaenys responded with a smile while Robb ran his fingers through his hair.

“So I was wondering if you wanted to come with us this afternoon. Arya’s coming down soon with Jon and Sam, and Smaljon’s still in bed but will probably come down with Rickon in a bit too. There won’t be much to do here in Winterfell today, and we have room in one of the Rovers for you to come watch.”

“Oh,” Ray replied, “I’m a little exhausted from yesterday and travelling the day before. But hopefully some other time?”

Truthfully, Ray did not want to go out in the cold, wet mud yet again, especially with her holey boots.

“Yeah, okay,” Robb replied frowning slightly, much to Ray’s confusion, “I’ll see you later then.”

Ray went back on her phone, and clicked on the _National News_ section. She studied quite a large photo of some Tyrell socialite in a backless, before choking on her cereal and spluttering after pressing on another linked article.

Ned was stroking her back and Bran had awkwardly leaned over to hand her a napkin from his wheelchair while Ray stopped chocking. She was oblivious to the stares coming from Egg and Jon – he must have just come down – approaching her as she regained her breath. Egg looked towards her phone –

**_DECORATED WAR HERO PARDONED AND ON BAIL AFTER SERVING 18 YEARS IN PRISON_ **

_Newly elected Prime Minister Robert Baratheon has pardoned 11 prisoners, many of them decorated war veterans, including Major Clegane, who had most notably diffused a bomb in the Westerosi Military Base in Lake Mountain, Lhazar._

_Major Clegane was found guilty to two counts of rape, and one count of manslaughter in 1920AD._

_His imminent release has raised questions about PM Baratheon’s decision to grant a pardon to Major Clegane by womens rights groups …_

_X_

Ray’s fingers were shaking with anger, but she stubbornly kept her grip on her knitting needles. She was helping Catelyn Stark and her sister knit some scarves they would send gifts away to guests as gifts at the end of the tourney.

Ned’s austere wife, who Ray would never call “Cat”, had regarded her with approval upon seeing another upper-middle guest with decent manners and the ability to knit a purl stitch. She found herself in Catelyn’s “solar”, sipping tea in between knitting, while Catelyn and her sister chatted about some rude woman called Barbrey.

Ray finally discovered that it was from Catelyn where Robb and Sansa got their good looks from. Catelyn was beautiful, and one of those elegant older ladies who wore smooth white pants which never creased.

Catelyn’s younger sister Lysa was also posh, but she didn’t have the same _Town and Country_ magazine cover thing going for her, and she spoke with a shrill voice. Jon had once told Ray in passing that Lysa had one son whom she coddled; and that she was now currently dating some creepy guy with a moustache.

“You know, I’d never thought that Dornish girls were taught home economics. Have you seen such a neat purl Cat? ” Lysa remarked.

Ray rolled her eyes internally. This idea about girls from Dorne being, well, _girls from Dorne_ , persisted for centuries. Lately, it was because Dorne was the first county to make schools and workplaces have at least one gender neutral bathroom.

“My uncle’s partner taught me,” Ray replied lightly, “she’s been like a mother to me my whole life.”

“She and your uncle must be very proud of you,” said prim Catelyn Stark, who was perhaps not aware of Oberyn and Ellaria’s open relationship, “I trust Jon has shown you around Winterfell?”

“Yes, he has,” Ray replied, “it’s very impressive.”

“Nonsense, I’ve heard your family’s palace in the Water Gardens is beautiful.”

“Oh, yes it is,” Ray said with a wan smile, “but Winterfell is so ancient and _big_.”

“Yes, I thought so too when I first came to live here,” Cat replied, “And Winterfell’s history is why we are so lucky to be organising these tourney re-enactments every few years. Did you manage to find any Dragon Age era clothing for the feast – Jon did tell you about how we are all to dress up then, yes?”

Ray quickly nodded as she saw Catelyn’s gaze become distinctly pointed. Clearly, she took her parties very seriously.

“Yes, they're as close to what I could get for Dragon Age clothing. It's mostly accurate,” Ray responded, “But, um, they’re Dornish.”

“That’s perfect!” Catelyn didn’t seem too fazed. Perhaps Catelyn knew that medieval Dornish clothing wasn’t as sexy as some steamy romantic paperbacks suggested, “Neither me nor Lysa or even Sansa and her friends are wearing anything Northern too. Do you have one of those big head dresses? Of course I know that wears them anymore -”

“Yes,” Ray nearly jabbed herself with her needle but continued to knit as she spoke, “Um, even up to a century ago, they were worn by some tribal brides. Mine’s really just some costume headdress my mum bought on a whim.”

Catelyn gave a small, awkward smile at that and continued with her sewing.

Ray had kept the headdress, which really had no value whatsoever, but it was the last birthday gift her mum had given her. Doran said it was a better imitation of what tribal headdress may have looked like a century ago rather than the Dragon Age, but Ray decided not to be to anal about the details. Besides, Ray's clothes were pretty accurate, and this feast would be perhaps the only time her mum's headdress was appropriate to wear.

“Have you met all of my children yet?” Catelyn asked.

“No, I’ve only had the chance to meet Robb, Sansa, Bran and Arya. But I feel like I’ve already met them. Jon talks about his brothers and sisters a lot.”

Cat smiled indulgently, and Ray was certain that she was the type of woman who made everyone wear matching clothing for their annual family portraits before she had even opened Cat’s photo album. Ray began to look through the book while Lysa complained about the chef preparing something _Lyseni_ tonight.

Ray saw the family portraits she expected, but also photos of children with auburn or dark hair, running around playgrounds, or dressed up as fairies and pirates. There were photos of birthdays and school dances, and one of Catelyn kissing Bran, and one of Robb wearing a graduation cap, with his Mum and Dad on either side of him and beaming with pride.

Ray’s lips thinned.

“You have a beautiful family.” she remarked. Catelyn looked pleased.

She continued to flick through the large album, until Ray paused at quite a nice photograph of Arya, who looked like she had just been told something very funny by the photographer. However, Arya was still a kid, and this pretty girl with dark hair and a wide smile was sixteen at least.

“Jon’s mother,” Catelyn said with a strained smile.

X

“He shouldn’t even have been charged with manslaughter in the first place!”

“Of course he shouldn’t have, but it's too late for us to fight for a murder charge –“

“But surely the prosecutors, the police, someone can at least prove that he is a threat to the community. So many women have been attacked by him –“

“Apart from your mother, the courts dismissed the other cases because the accusers were sex workers.”

“You should have seen the paper here. The headline called him a _war hero._ ”

“Oberyn is speaking to some lawyers right now, but he will call you tonight. But I think you should leave King’s Landing and change universities. Come back to Dorne, study at Sunspear Tech –“

“Clegane’s not going to come looking for me and Egg.”

“But you will never feel safe in King’s Landing," Doran replied, "And I want you and Egg near me and your uncle and your cousins.”

“But my credits might not transfer and the best physiotherapy courses are in KLU! SunTech is an engineering college with an underfunded health department, and Water Gardens won’t let me keep my credits so I’ll have to study for an extra year.”

Rhaenys pressed her warm hand against the frosted window of her small room, and watched it create an imprint of her hand.

“There’s still Oldtown, that’s the best one in the country, and I’ve got some old friends of your mother as contacts if you want to go.”

“I could go North too. You know, I was sitting next to the Vice Chancellor of White Harbour College yesterday.”

“Don’t be silly, we all know you hate the cold. Where's Egg?”


	4. Chapter 4

Knowing that her brothers wouldn’t be back until sunset, Ray decided to walk to Wintertown alone and buy those pair of boots she saw in the paper this morning.

She was roaming through cobbled streets, looking for the little alley with the boot shop, and passing other shoppers who carried their groceries. She thought she saw Sansa’s hair from the window of a stationary shop, and Ray was about to go to a local to ask for directions until she was nearly bowled over by a large black dog.

“Shaggy!”

Rickon was running down the path towards Ray and the hairy beast which was now trying to raise itself on its paws and lick her face. At Rickon’s heels was Smaljon, who was lumbering after the small boy and laughing.

“Why are you here?” Rickon asked.

“I’m looking for a new pair of boots. Why didn’t you two go to the forest with Robb?”

“Shaggydog doesn’t like gunshots. And Smaljon -”

“Is vegan.”

Rhaenys held down a scoff, and asked Smaljon for directions, but was irked when both him and Rickon decided that they wanted to come with her and help Ray buy a new pair of boots.

She wasn’t even sure how Rickon was even allowed to bring in his dog inside the shop. He ran around the aisles of the place excitedly with Shaggy before selecting a pairs of boots which Ray would surprisingly have chosen for herself.

Seated, Ray began to pull off the boots she had on and scowled at her wet socks. She furrowed her eyebrows when Smaljon appeared with a pair of socks he just bought for her to wear while she tried on the boots Rickon grabbed.

“You clearly don’t know what to look for in boots.” This was Smaljon, who had taken the liberty of inspecting her old boots which looked very small in his hands.

Ray cleared her throat.

“Yeah, I probably don’t. They just looked nice and it hardly ever rains in KL so I didn’t know they wouldn’t be waterproof…they weren’t cheap though.”

She sat down on one of the benches in the shop, struggling to push the boot she was trying onto her foot, until Smaljon sat on the ground before her and held onto her calf, before wordlessly taking the boot from her hand and pulling it onto her right foot.

It was sliding in perfectly now, and Ray found her face heating up as his large hand gripped nearly her whole calf.

“I come from even further up, and it snows there nearly all year round,” said Smaljon as he began to tie the thin laces of her shoes carefully, “Up North, the boots have to be waterproof, and bulkier than what you’re used to. A bit expensive, yeah, but they last.”

He finished with the first shoe and held her gaze as he reached for the next shoe. Ray felt a little awkward that he was volunteering to touch her gross wet feet, but he was more than welcome to help her if he wanted.

“So, where abouts are you from?”

“Lonely Hills. Not so lonely anymore though.”

“Yeah,” Rhaenys responded. The minerals company that took Dragonstone from her grandma had a big fat mine at that Lonely Hills as well, “so mining town then? Are you a miner?”

He certainly looked like one, with his plaid and stubble. Ray thought of the battered old paperback in her grandma’s bookshelf, ‘ _Snowed in with the Lumberjack’_.

“No, a copper.” Smaljon responded, looking up at her and winking.

Although Ray was teased about being hopeless at picking up signals, Ray _thought_ that maybe Smaljon (name..?) was hanging out with her because he liked her. She wasn’t sure if he was about to start massaging the arch of her foot and wondered why he didn’t find touching someone else’s foot gross.

_He could snap my foot in half with one of his hands and not even break a sweat._

Ray’s thoughts then went to that criminal who had been pardoned, and her mood soured.

Smaljon let her rest her bare foot on his lap while he reached for the other boot. Ray saw her pink scrunchie on his wide wrist and stretched to its limit, contrasting against his dull jacket and pants.

“Do I call you Smaljon, or just…Jon?”

Ray just realised he had the same name as her brother and wondered if it was common up North.

“Whatever you like. Do I need to call you Ray? It’s just that I knew this bastard call Ray who sold second hand cars.”

“Rhaenys is fine then,” she replied, as he gazed at the hot pink polish on her toes and while his thumb circled her ankle gently, “are you competing tomorrow?”

“Yes,” Jon murmured as he slid a warm sock over her other foot, “but no one’s given me their token so far for tomorrow.”

“You can keep my scrunchie then. How long have you been vegan for?”

His eyes flickered away from pushing the next boot onto her foot, and he grinned at her as though he found the question amusing. Ray should not have felt as flustered as she did.

"You at college?"

"Hmm, doing physio."

"Smart girl."

Ray wasn't sure whether to be flattered by his attention, or offended by his forwardness.

Jon finished tying her laces and looked up to her when he finished, like a loyal subject to a queen in a past life, and Ray was about to thank him when she realised that he was seated right between her legs. Embarrassed, she quickly stood up and stumbled, before she felt two warm hands grab her hips and hold onto her until she became stable.

Rickon, meanwhile, had decided to finally make an appearance and tell both of them that Shaggydog managed to bowl down a tall stack of shoe boxes and needed help to fix it all before the shop keeper noticed.

X

Shaggy was not sprinting and barking excitedly now, but walking tiredly besides Ray and Jon, who had heaved a tired Rickon on his shoulder and was carrying him back to Winterfell.

It was nearly sunset, and both Ray and Jon would glance at each other every now and then in silence until Jon asked Ray,

“So, are you living with Jon right now?”

“Uh-huh,” Ray licked her lips before replying, “he began living with me and Egg nearly a year ago because all of us go to college at KL.”

“Must have been weird, reuniting with your brother.”

“We had actually never met him before then, so there wasn’t really a reunion.”

Ray realised she had just said something very personal to someone who was practically a stranger. Her eyes widened and she looked to Jon, who awkwardly met her glance.

“I mean, he’s my brother,” Ray should have really shut up, but now in her panic, she couldn’t stop talking, “I mean, like _I_ was the one who contacted _him_ when my grandma died and we had to sell our family’s farm because the water got polluted and we had to divide the proceeds –“

“Um, okay, yeah I get it.”

They walked in silence after that, and Ray watched Jon’s large shadow cover her own smaller one on the muddy track below.

When they reached Winterfell, the gates and courtyard were empty, perhaps because it was getting dark and no one wanted to be out in the cold, so Ray was surprised when Arya came out of the doors.

“We were about to look for you lot,” Arya was approaching Shaggy and began to pet his fur as the dog groaned and lazily licked her cheek. Jon had walked inside with Rickon, perhaps to put him into bed.

“Dad was worried.” Arya continued.

“Oh of course, Rickon is so young –“, Ray started

“Nah, he wanted to just know if Smaljon was with you.”

“Yeah, I met him in the village.”

“Yeah, Dad was a bit weird this morning. He wanted one of us to look for you and stay with you. All the boys volunteered this morning, even Theon, but Smalboy came downstairs late with Rickon and volunteered. Probably because he has a gun – keeps it in his jacket. Doesn’t let me touch it though.” Arya finished with a scowl, oblivious to Ray’s growing horror.

Ray had a lot of thoughts swirling through her head.

She had spent an afternoon with someone who looked like _him_ and carried a gun.

And _Ned_ didn’t think she couldn’t look after herself. This was a little rich, seeing as Ned’s _whore_ sister and her fucking father thought she and her little brother and their mother was safe all those years ago.

Ned didn’t think Ray was safe, and that Egg may not be safe up North as well. But why would Clegane come North after them? Clegane was just a random thug.

“The chef cooked up bratswurt today! You know Smaljon holds the Westerosi record for eating the most sausages in a minute?” Arya asked excitedly.

“I thought he was vegan?” Ray felt faint.

“You look like you saw someone get shot,” Arya stated, “who is this Clegane bloke anyway that’s making everyone wet their pants?”

“He broke into our house when I was four and killed my mum while my dad was on a joyride with his girlfriend.”


End file.
